Water Agencies Testify Against Bill to Establish California’s First-Ever Water Tax

SACRAMENTO, Aug. 23, 2017 -- Today in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, water agencies from throughout California joined with the Association of California Water Agencies to publicly voice their opposition to a bill that would establish the state’s first-ever tax on drinking water and to pledge their commitment to ensuring safe drinking water for communities across the state. 

The focus of the hearing was SB 623 by Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel). The bill was placed on suspense and may be taken up by the full Assembly later this session.

Proponents of SB623 – called the “Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fee” – say the bill is aimed at creating a fund to clean up contaminated drinking water in disadvantaged communities. It was amended on Monday to establish the state’s first tax on water. While ACWA strongly supports the goal of providing assistance to disadvantaged communities without access to safe and reliable drinking water, ACWA is vigorously opposed to this new tax and the precedent it would set. ACWA supports funding safe drinking water solutions for disadvantaged communities with General Fund dollars, packaged together with ongoing federal safe drinking water funds, general obligation bond funds, and the new agriculture-proposed assessment related to nitrates in groundwater.

"Water is essential to life and shouldn't be taxed. It works against water affordability," ACWA Deputy Executive Director for Government Relations Cindy Tuck testified during the hearing. “We agree with the intent – we want to solve the problem – but we oppose a regressive tax on water. This is a state social issue and yet local water agencies are being asked to collect money through a tax and send it to Sacramento.”

“Proponents say they have been negotiating for months, but the tax was amended to this bill just this past Monday and has been through no policy hearings. An issue of this magnitude needs to be fully debated in a thorough and transparent process,” Tuck added.

Several opponents of the bill also called the tax regressive, saying it would hurt low income earners the hardest. The General Fund is primarily derived from income taxes and is progressive, therefore using that as a funding source would mean high income earners pay more.

Greg Morrison, government relations officer for the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, questioned how proponents of the measure could say they had reached an historic deal on the funding mechanism.

“How can they call this an historic agreement when the largest impacted group – local water agencies – were not even at the table?” Morrison asked after the hearing.

San Diego County Water Authority Government Relations Manager Glenn Farrel said the bill is “asking urban water ratepayers to pay for another sector’s contamination without any nexus.”

In all, representatives of more than 20 ACWA agencies appeared in person to voice their opposition to SB 623’s water tax, and more than 100 have signed a coalition statement against the bill.

For local perspectives, contact:
San Diego County Water Authority: Glenn Farrel, 916/492-6074
Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District: Greg Morrison, 951/674-3146

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 440+ members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com. ACWA also manages Save Our Water—the state’s official water conservation outreach program – in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources. More information is at www.saveourwater.com.  

Contact:  
Pamela Martineau
ACWA Acting Communications Supervisor
916/441-4545 or 916/832-7941